Dispensing closure



United States Patent O DISPENSING CLOSURE Lido Albiani, Cicero, Ill., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Morton Salt Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application January 6, 1956, Serial No. 557,739

13 Claims. (Cl. Z22- 480) This invention relates generally to closures and more particularly to a manually operable closure adapted to serve as a dispenser for a container.

Many forms of dispensing closures are known in the art; however, certain disadvantages have been found in these closures, such as difficulty of manufacture, diiculty of installation in a container, improper closing, whereby undesirable loss of material from the container may occur, failure to retain the closure lid in the open position during use, and undesirable projection of the closure outwardly from the container surface. Applicant has designed and herein discloses and claims a new and improved closure which overcomes all of these disadvantages and is of extremely simple and economical structure.

One object of the invention Ais to `provide a dispensing closure having new and improved means for attachment thereof to a container, comprising a frusto-conical inner end for guided insertion of the inner end of the device through the container wall and an annular groove adjacent -the outer end thereof to receive the margin of the container wall defining the opening through which the closure is inserted to snap lock the closure to the container.

Anotherobject is to provide a closure for dispensing particulate material and arranged to elfect a tight closing` notwithstanding deposition of particulate material on the inner surfaces of the closure.

A further object is to provide such a dispensing closure wherein a closure lid is spaced from. the forarninous` pouring wall when the closure is inthe closed position to accommodate a deposition of particulate material therebetween without affecting the tightness of the closing.

Still another object is to provide a` closure as described in. the next above paragraph wherein a depending flange is provided 1on the `lid toeffect the desired spacing. from the foraminous walL f Yet another object is to provide such a closure withf a shoulder upstanding from` the foraminous wall to. provide the abutment -with the dependi-ng ange, said shoulder acting;V to prevent deposition of theA particulate material i at the area. of abutment.

Yet another object is to provide aclosure as described above wherein the inner end of the depending ange is made relatively thin tominimize eifectively catching. of particulate material betweenV the Harige and the shoulder.

Another object is to provide a dispensing closure having aA tubular member adapted to project inwardly through a container wall and having an outer end' extending relatively only a small distance above the container Wall' surface and heldin position by a laterally outwardly extending ange abutting the outer surface of the container and a lid adapted to be fully receivable within the outer end of the tubular member to closev the same when desired.

Still another object4 is to provide a closurelas described in the above paragraph wherein the. flange is provided with a frustoconical peripheral surface adapted to taper 2,826,343 Patented Mar. l1, 1958 ice ' metrically-disposed notches in the outer end to accommodate `hinge means and tab meansA longitudinally inwardlytof the outer end when the lid is in the closed position.

A still further object is to provide a closure as described in the next above paragraph wherein the depth of the notch for receiving the tab means is made such as to cause the tab to be pivoted and project somewhat longitudinally outwardly when the lid is pressed into the closedY position. Y l

Another object is to provide a new and improved closure having av tubular member adapted to be lixedly secured to and extend into a container and having a laterally inwardly extending protuberant means at its outer end with a lid member arranged to snap inwardly Y past the means to close the closure.

Another Object is to provide such a closure wherein the lid Vmember is provided with a frusto-conical periphery acting to guide the lid to the closed position and to cooperate with the protuberant means to effect snap locking of the lid.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a dispensing closure as described above, having a onepiece construction of resilient material and with the lid member and tubular member connected by a hinge element arranged to take a permanent set and allow the lid to assume a position in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tubular member when the closure is in the open position.

Other features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of'a dispensing closure embodying the invention, in place on a container;

Figure 2 -is an enlarged (approximately twice normal size) top plan view of the closure in extended position, upon completion of the molding thereof;

Figure 3 isf an enlarged diametric sectional view of the closure, in place on' the container and with the lid thereo'l:` extending in the open position;

Figure 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, rear elevation of the closure with the lid partially broken away;

Figure 5 is` a front elevation of the closure with the l lid in closed position;

Figure 6v is an enlarged sectional view taken approximately along the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure lf-is a` sectional view taken approximately along the 1ine7--7 of Figure 6;

Figure 81 isa plany view of. the closure in closed position in. place ona dispenser wall.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawings, my closure, generally designated lil, is seen to be adapted to be mounted on a conventional container 20. Closure 10l comprises a tubular member 11 and a lid member 12 connected thereto by a hinge element 13. Tubular member 11 is arranged to project inwardly through an opening 2L provided in a wallof the container 20.-k Means for securing tubular member l1 to thecontainer wall are provided in the form of an en- Such structure allows the closure to be almost completely receivable interiorly of the container with only a minimal extension outwardly thereof. To facilitate manual operation of the lid, a tab 17 may be provided to extend laterally from lid 12 diametricaliy opposite hinge means 13.

Across the inner end 11b of tubular member 11 is formed a foraminous wall 11C, having a plurality of openings iid of a suitable size for passing the particulate material to be dispensed. The outer periphery 11e of the tubular member 11 from a point short of the groove 15 inwardly is made frusta-conical, narrowing longitudinally inwardly, to guide the closure through the dispenser opening 21 during the installation of the closure on the container. Immediately adjacent groove 15 the peripheral surface is reversely frusto-conical, i. e., it slopes inwardly toward the groove. r[his compound frusto-conical configuration further serves to allow the margin of the container wall defining opening 21 to snap yieldingly into groove 15. Adjacent wall 11e, the inter nal diameter of tubular member 11 is reduced to form a shoulder 111.

To minimize the projection of closure from the container when installed, the longitudinal thickness of fiange le is made relatively small. Further, to reduce undesirable loosening of the closure from the container by forces acting laterally against the periphery of ange 14.-, the lateral outer edge thereof is made frusto-conical narrowing from the groove outwardly into the closure surface. Radially inwardly of flange 14 is bead 16, which is preferabiy formed integrally with tubular member' 11 to form an annular ring at the outer end of the tubular member. rfhis bead may be very small. Y

Lid member 12 comprises a main closure portion herein disclosed as a disc ia, having a maximum diameter preferably comparable to the internal diameter of outer end 11a of tubular member 11 just inwardly of bead 16 so that it may be received frictionally within the outer end to extend transverseiy thereacross and close the closure. Depending peripheraily from dise 12a, is an annular liange 12b arranged to extend into abutment with the longitudinal outer face 11]" of shoulder 11f when the lid is in the closed position. In this way two seals are formed and, in addition, shoulder 11j" andflange 12b cooperatively act to space the lid disc 12a substantially from the foraminous wall lic. Thus, should particulate material remain on the outer surface of wall 11e, it will not affect the closing of the lid to this spaced position. To further eliminate any obstruction to closing by particulate material remaining above wall 11e, face 11i of shoulder 11j is'made relatively narrow, thereby causing any material originally resting on face 11j" to fall therefrom back onto wall 11C. The outer peripheral surface 12e of flange i219 and disc 12a is made truste-conical, narrowing inwardly, to provide a relatively thin inner end 12d which may act as a wedge, tending to displace laterally any material which may inadvertently remain on surface 11j and thus further assure a tight abutment of frange 12b with shoulder 11j. As best seen in Figures 6 and 7, an annular space 12e is thus formed between lid member fiange 12b and the wall of tubular member 11 laterally outwardly of ange 12b which may accommodate any such small amount of material which is so displaced. The frusto-conical surface 12e further acts to guide the lid member 12 into the closed position and tends to urge bead 16 slightly laterally outwardly during the lid closing operation to assist in the snap locking of the lid.

Hinge means 13 comprises, in the embodiment being described, an integral extension of tubular member 11 and lid member 12 in the form of a thin strap. The closure is formed originally, as seen in Figure 2, with the lid and tubular member extending generally laterally of each other, and thus hinge 13 would act normally to return the members to this position. However, by fold- Cil ing the hinge or strap 13 completely over to the closed position, as seen in Figure 6, a permanent deformation or set is caused in the strap so that it causes the lid to return only to a position generally perpendicular to the original plane, as seen in Figure 3. The opening of the closure to this intermediate position is desirable as it maintains the dispensing forming tubular member 11 in an unobstructed condition during the dispensing operation, while yet it positions the lid 12 in the most readily accessible position for manual grasping thereof to return it to the closed position. If the lid were allowed to return completely to the position of Figure 2, considerably more diiiiculty would be incurred in attempting to grasp the lid 12 or the tab 17 thereon.

In order that the projection of the closure outwardly from the wall of container 20 is minimized, provisions are made for receiving both hinge means 13 and tab 17 when the lid is in the closed position. To this end, a notch 11g is provided in the outer end 11a and ange 14 of the tubular member, which notch is arranged to receive the portion of hinge 13 extending across the outer end 11a and flange 14 when the lid is closed, as seen in Figure 6. Diametrically opposite notch 11g, is a similar notch 11h which is arranged to receive similarly the portion of tab 17 extending across the outer end 11a and flange 14.

The depth of notch 11h is made such that the outer end of tab 17 is pivoted upwardly when lid 12 is snapped past the bead 16 and the inner end of tab 17 is positioned slightly below the bottom of the notch. This effects an outward projection of the tab in the closed position of the closure, increasing the ease with which the tab may be grasped. Because of the resilient construction of tab 17, however, the tab may be pressed into notch 11h by a slight downward force, without affecting the positioning of the lid, and thus the entire closure 10 may be made to assume a fiat or nonprojecting position for purposes such as stacking of the containers.

The above-described structure of my dispensing closure adapts itself particularly for manufacture thereof as a one-piece element. Such manufacture may be by molding a suitable plastic material, such as polyethylene, into the configuration described and shown. The invention, however, comprehends the use of separate elements, allowing the use of different, suitable materials for the various elements.

Installation and use of closure 1t) are extremely simple. It is anticipated that the closure will be provided in the closed configuration of Figure 6. The inner end 11b is pressed through opening 21 provided in the container Wall until the margin of the opening snaps into groove 15 in tubular member 11. The closure is thus permanently secured in place. To permit dispensing of particulate material from container 29, lid 12 is pivoted to the open position of Figure 3. As only a slight retaining force is exerted by the relatively small bead 16, this pivoting is simply and readily accomplished through the manual operation of tab 17. As lid 12 maintains its open position, material may be dispensed through foraminous wall 11:,` and outwardly from tubular member 11 as desired.

When it is desired to close closure 10 subsequent to a dispensing operation, lid 12 is merely pivoted back to the closed position of Figure 6. As shoulder 11f and ange 12b cooperate to space disc 12a from foraminous wall 11e, no inhibition of such closing is occasioned by retained particulate material on wall 11C. Further, due to the self-cleaning action of shoulder 11]c and the lateral urging action of tapered flange end 12d, a tight, positive abutment between the ange and the shoulder is effected, assuring sealed closure of the container 2t). Because of the effective minimum extension of closure 10 outwardly from container 20, a relatively smooth presentment is made of the dispensing closure so that the container may be packed one on top of the other when desired and tendency to dislodge or loosen the closure from the container is effectively eliminated.

While Ihave shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, inthe construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A dispensing closure for use with a container having a wall provided with an opening, comprising: a tubular member insertable longitudinally through the wall opening and having a laterally enlarged outer end for abutting the container wall surrounding the opening, and a foraminous wall extending transversely across the inner end; a lid member including a main portion receivable fully within said outer end and extendingtransversely thereof to close Vthe same, said lid member having a depending peripheral ange on its `inner t`ace;jmeans associated with said foraminous wall for 'cooperation with said flange to space said jmain portion from said forarninous wall when in closed position; and means hingedly connecting said members.

2. A dispensing closure for use with a container having a wall provided with an opening, Comprising: a tubular member insertable longitudinally 4through the wall opening and having a laterally enlarged outer end for abutting the container wall surrounding the opening, and a foraminous wall extending transversely across the inner end; a lid member including a main portion receivable fully within said outer end and extending transversely thereof to close the same, said lidmernber having depending spacingmeans on its inner face; means outwardly associated with said forarninous; wall for positive abutment with said spacing means to space said main portion from `said foraminous wall when in closed position; and means hingedly connecting said members.

3. A dispensing closure for use with a container having a wall provided with an opening, comprising: a tubular member insertable longitudinally through the Wall opening and having a laterally enlarged, longitudinally thin outer end for abutting the container wall surrounding the opening, said Aouter end having a longitudinally outer surface inclined to the longitudinal axis of said member and narrowing longitudinally outwardly, and a foraminous wall extending transversely across the inner end, said member further having a laterally outwardly opening, annular groove juxtaposed longitudinally inwardly of said outer end to receive the margin of the container wall defining the opening and snap lock said tubular member to the container; a lid member including a main portion receivable fully within the outer end of said tubular member and extending transversely thereof to close the same, said lid member having a depending peripheral flange on its inner surface to `space said main portion from said foraminous wall when in closed position; and means hingedly connecting said members.

4.v A dispensing closure for use with a container having a wall provided with an opening, comprising: a tubular member insertable longitudinally through the wall opening and having a laterally enlarged outer end for abutting the container wall surrounding the opening, a foraminous wall extending transversely across the inner end and a shoulder upstanding marginally from said foraminous wall; a lid member receivable fully within the outer end of said tubular member and extending transversely thereof to close the same and having abutment with said shoulder to space said lid from said foraminous wall when in closed position; and means hingedly con necting said members.

5. A dispensing closure for use with a container having a wall provided with an opening, comprising: a tubular member insertable longitudinally through the wall opening and having a laterally enlarged outer end for abutting the container wall surrounding the opening, a foraminous wall extending Vtransversely `across the inner end and a shoulder upstanding marginally `from said viforaminous wall; a lid member including a main `portion receivable fully within the outer end of said tubular member and extending transversely thereof to close the same and having a depending peripheral flange on its inner surface positioned to abut said shoulder when said lid member is in closed position to space said main portion from said foram'inous wall; and means hingedly connecting Vsaid members. i

6.. A dispensing closure `for use with a container having a wall provided with an opening, comprising: a `tubular member insertable longitudinally through the wall 'opening and having an outer end provided with a laterally inwardly projecting bead and an inner end provided with a foraminous wall extending transversely thereacross; a lid member including a main portion fully receivable within the outer end lof said Atubular member `and extending transversely thereof to close ythe samepsaid main portion having an external extent slightly greater than the internal extent of said bead to snap past said'bead and be retained thereby in closed position; means arranged to extend longitudinally between the outer end of said tubular member and said Kforaminous wall to space said main portion from said foraminous wall when in closed` position; andmeanshingedly connecting said members.

7. A .dispensing closure for use with a container having a wallgprovided with an opening, comprising: a tubular member insertable longitudinally through the Wallopening and having an outer end provided with va laterally inwardly projecting bead and an inner end provided with a foraminous wall extending transversely thereacross; a lid member including a disc having an external diameter slightly greater than the internal diameter of said bead permitting said` disc to snap past said bead and'be fully receivable within said outer end to extend transversely thereof, the 'lateral periphery of said disc being frustoconical; annular meansarranged' to extend "longitudinally between said outer end and said foraminous wall to space said disc from said foraminous wall; and means integral with each of said members for hingedly connecting said members.

8. A dispensing closure for use with a container hav ing a wall provided with an opening, comprising: a tubular member insertable longitudinally through the wall opening and having an outer end provided with a laterally `outwardly projecting, longitudinally thin flange having a lateral, longitudinally inner surface and a frustumshaped longitudinally outer surface narrowing longitudinally outwardly to cause a force directed laterally against said outer surface to produce a component acting longitudinally inwardly and resist loosening of the tubular member in the opening, said flange inner surface being adapted to abut the container wall surrounding the opening, said member having a laterally outwardly opening, annular groove juxtaposed longitudinally inwardly of said outer end to receive the margin of the container wall dening the opening and snap lock said tubular member to the container; a lid member fully receivable within the outer end of said tubular member and extending transversely thereof to close the same; and means hingedly connecting said members.

9. A dispensing closure for insertion in an opening in a wall of a container comprising a tubular member insertable in the opening and having means formed externally thereof for engaging the container wall on opposite sides to retain the closure in the opening, a laterally narrow, longitudinally outwardly facing shoulder formed in the interior of said tubular member, a lid member comprising an imperforate main closure portion receivable within the outer end of said tubular member, said main closure portion having a peripheral portion adapted when said main closure portion is received in said tubular member to seat on said shoulder to close the closure,

said main closure portion having a thickness no greater than the spacing of said shoulder from the outer end of said tubular member to be receivable wholly within said tubular member when in closed position, and hinge means connecting said members.

10. A dispensing closure for insertion in an opening in a wall of a container comprising a tubular member insertable in the opening and having means formed externally thereof for engaging the container wall on opposite sides to retain the closure in the opening, a laterally narrow, longitudinally outwardly facing shoulder formed in the interior of said tubular member, laterally inwardly extending protuberant means near the outer end of said tubular member, a lid member comprising an imperforate main closure portion receivable within the outer end of said tubular member, said main portion having a peripheral portion adapted when said main portion is received in said tubular member to seat on said shoulder to close the closure, said main portion having a thickness no greater than the spacing of said shouider from said protuberant means to be receivable wholly within said tubular member and held yieldingly in closed position by said protuberant means.

11. A dispensing closure for insertion in an opening in a wall of a container comprising a tubular member insertable in the opening and having means formed externally thereof for engaging the container wall on opposite sides to retain the closure in the opening, a radially narrow, outwardly facing, annular shoulder formed in the interior of said tubular member, a radially inwardly proi jecting bead at the outer end of said tubular member, a lid member including a disc having a peripheral portion adapted to seat on said shoulder when said lid member is in closed position, said disc having a frusto-conical peripheral surface enlarging in a longitudinally outward direction, the maximum diameter of said disc being greater than the internal `diameter of said bead and substantially equal to the internal diameter of said tubular member inwardly of said bead and said disc at its peripheral portion having a thickness no greater than the distance between said annular shoulder and said bead enabling said disc to pass said bead and be yieldingly held in closed position by said bead, and hinge means connecting said members.

12. A dispensing closure comprising: a tubular member having an open end and a foraminous wall extending transversely across the member at a distance from said open end, a lid member associated with the tubular mein ber to extend closingly across the open end, and means carried by at least one of said tubular and lid members to extend between said lid member and said wall when said lid member is disposed across said open end thereby maintaining sai-d lid member spaced from said wall.

13. A dispensing closure for use with a container having a wall provided with an opening, comprising a tubular member having an open end and a foraminous wall extending transversely across the member at a distance from said open end, said tubular member being insertable longitudinally through the wall opening of the container and having a laterally enlarged, longitudinally thin outer end for abutting the container wall surrounding the opening, a lid member associated with the tubular member to extend closingly across the open end, and means carried by at least one of said tubular and lid members to extend between said lid member and said foraminous Wall when said lid member is disposed across said open end thereby maintaining said lid member spaced from said foraminous wall.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,966,611 CObel July 17, 1934 2,098,763 Sebell Nov. 9, 1937 2,543,909 Hatheway Mar. 6, 1951 2,625,306 Murphy Jan. 13, 1953 

